


want to be the one you can’t breathe without

by rayfelle



Series: that one mutant romance [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mutants, M/M, Mutant!Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-24
Updated: 2016-12-24
Packaged: 2018-09-11 13:22:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8981593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rayfelle/pseuds/rayfelle
Summary: It's still hard to be a mutant. Harry joins the Knights officially.(And they actually start dating along the way.)





	

Harry woke up to warm sun and the same old traffic rumbling all around him. The window was open in the bedroom, somewhere a radio played overused pop songs, and someone was frying eggs. Too lazy to get up, but too awake to sleep, the mutant laid in his bed and simply _listened_.

His phone buzzed on the floor. The cat was gone again.

The bruises on his arms were still there as well. They didn’t sting anymore, but the memory of Remus’ panic and anger did instead. Something had changed indeed. The ceiling creaked and Harry squinted up at the dust fluttering through the sunrays – this was all so very stupid.

It was time to get up.

…

 “---is why I believe we can reach _harmony_. There are things that only mutants can do, just as there are things that only humans are capable of. Fighting, violence, aggression… Grindelwald proved that hate only creates hate. Do we _need_ it right now, when times are critical?” Dumbledore smiled gently at the crown before him. Both humans and mutants stood and listened. _Judged_.

Harry could tell that the _Order_ was on high alert. Be it for the leftovers of the _Foundation_ , be it the _Knights_. Still, he was a young and blond boy, easily overseen and ignored between the women and men that stood and made their decisions.

( _they thought it will all end with one boogieman defeated? How wrong, how naive_ )

He could see specks of light shimmering above them. They flickered in and out, jumped erratically from one spot to the other. Suspicion grew stronger with each step that Harry took away from the meeting. Curiosity had taken the shapeshifter this far, despite the knowledge that the _Order_ was not particularly happy with him.

Something curled around his arm ( _felt like fingers, but there was nothing but pressure against the bared flesh_ ) and pulled Harry out of the crowd and closer to where the podium stood. “Don’t worry, don’t worry. It’s just me.” Arthur Weasley laughed merrily as they moved forward, “Hermione saw you coming here, so I waited. Very sneaky.” Invisible man, sneaky indeed.

The new members, Harry had seen some of them. However, annoyance still grew steadily and something spiteful was born out of it. He had given his answer plenty of times already and his steady _no_ was ignored each and every time. Enough was enough.

…

Minerva stood by the door as guard and Harry did nothing to appease the displeased glare that had settled on his face. Not his face, no, _Tom’s_ face. Perhaps he was still being spiteful, or maybe this was a show of allegiance towards the _Knights_.

Simpler yet, it was both.

“Harry, _please_ , we simply want to talk with you, show what you are missing out on.” Dumbledore smiled, his beard twitched as he did so. “If you still refuse, we won’t hold you back. Force is not how I want to recruit.” The old man sucked on a lemon drop. Light shone along the old and wrinkled skin of his fingers.

“You said the same thing and last _two_ times you didn’t just let me go. I already refused, was it so hard to understand the notion of _no_? But, seeing as I still have bruises from your _gentle_ handling, I suppose I don’t need an answer.” The slow drawl of Tom’s words and mannerisms should not have come as easy to Harry as they did, all things considered. But here he was, seemingly relaxed in the uncomfortable wooden chair and in control of his emotions.

They were rubbing off on each other – Tom and Harry.

Minerva bristled where she stood, Remus flinched because of… because of something. Dumbledore soured just a notch. “For that I am sorry, my boy. We did not know you would react so… rashly to Hermione’s thirst of knowledge.” Silence stretched out just a bit too long. “Please, if you would change to yourself while we talk, I would be immensely grateful for that.”

A very mean smile spread on Harry’s face as he changed once again. This time before the _Order_ sat James Potter. Young, healthy, innocently amused and seemingly friendly – the way that Harry had seen him in old photographs and in Sirius’ stories. This time it wasn’t only Remus that flinched and turned away, guilt sinking claws into their being.

( _this was not the James that Hermione had brought up, wide eyed and with a hole in his chest, dead on the doorstep of their house. small mercies the master of masks was capable of_ )

“Forgive me Albus, my man. I happened to forget how I look. But I have heard that I used to be very alike to my father.” Harry really had turned out to be vindictive when forced into situation he did not like. Tom would be so proud.

...

“I hate it when shit like this happens.” Harry didn’t even bother squirming out of Tom’s hold. Instead he simply sighed and laid his head against the other’s shoulder. “I get away from them and _after that_ I fuck up.”

Tom’s laugher was quiet, a calming vibration along Harry’s cheek. “Ah, darling, if I were to give an honest opinion on this quandary of yours, you would not be pleased with me, I am afraid.” The man glanced down and smiled charmingly, his small dimples created shadows in the sunlight.

“Because you carrying me in the princess hold is better. _Sure_ , yes.” Harry scowled up at the other. His leg throbbed with a dull pain, the ends of his hair still smelled of fire and ash. There was a deep red burn marking the right side of his face. “Thank you for showing up.”

This time Tom didn’t reply for a long time. The man’s gaze hardened as he walked forward, through the concrete jungle of tall buildings and hateful people. “This is the fifth time they have tried to make you join. Now _with force_. And this time they went as far as _injure_ you.” Something dark lurked beneath the beauty, something dangerous.

Harry’s fingers curled against charcoal dusted button up Tom was wearing, his face heated up against his own will. He couldn’t wait anymore, it seemed. Even if Remus and Sirius tried to keep the _Order_ away, sides had to be taken. He breathed in and then out. “I’ll join your _Knights_.” Harry finally breathed out.

Tom’s stride did not falter in the slightest, but the grin that slowly stretched wide on his lips and bared his teeth was pleased ( _even if there was still the danger of an alpha wolf hidden beneath_ ). He leaned down and brushed a kiss along Harry’s cheekbone, careful of the burn. “I’ve waited to hear those words for a while now, _darling_.”

“Stupid arrogant idiot.” Harry hid his face in the crook of Tom’s neck, his face still flushed. He really did feel like a rescued princess this very instant. And yet, warmth bloomed under his ribs, spreading throughout his whole body with every breath taken.

…

Tom slowly slid his fingers though the mess and tangles of Harry’s hair. His brows were furrowed as he read over the notes and reports that the _Knights_ had made on the members of _Order_. The Seer, as they had dubbed Hermione, was proving to be a difficult obstacle to conquer. The girl saw the future, if only a few glimpses ( _seconds_ ) of it and at times knew of plans before they were even as much as made.

Quietly Harry hummed, his legs pulled up to curl against the warm side of Tom’s body. With his leg still not healed there was nothing that the shapeshifter could do. And even if he could, there were now ways to track his movement, even easier tricks to use when finding him between the sea of forgettable faces and human beings.

The apartment was quiet, the cat asleep on Harry’s bed. Upstairs neighbors were playing love songs loudly and the lady living next to the young man was once again yelling at her brother through the phone. It was an everyday calm, a comfortable calm.

( _Tom had not left Harry out of his sight and the man’s hand was warm as it held onto him_ )

“Do you think there will be another fight?” The shapeshifter asked. His eyelids felt heavy, his body relaxed and tired from a day of doing nothing. In the place of a never-ending energy there was static silence. The mutant blood in Harry’s veins sung low.

Tom licked his lips in thought, his fingers stilled. “I don’t think so. We think alike, Dumbledore and I, it’s just that our preferred ending result differs greatly. Perhaps we will manage to come upon a compromise.” The man’s socked foot rose and fell in the rhythm of an old love song that floated through the old wood and brick of the building.

Harry closed his eyes and thought about simply falling asleep. “Just don’t start a duel for my _honor_ or some stupid shit like that. I’ll kick you out of my apartment.” A threat and a last word before the land of dreams took over.

“ _Oh darling_ , you know me well enough by this point to know that I won’t listen to you.”

…

Harry limped into the headquarters of the _Knights of Walpurgis_ and stopped once he saw Ron Weasley playing (and loosing) poker with Barty and Abraxas’ young son Lucius. It took but a couple of blinks as he concluded that _yes_ , this _was_ a little bit strange, but probably had a _reason_ behind it.

Everything Tom did had a _reason_.

Abraxas looked up from his journal and waved the shapeshifter over. “Boss got us to keep an eye on this _bright eyes_ here, even if the kid is under the _will_.” The man then pushed a cup of steaming tea over to Harry and cooed as his son melted another chair. “Isn’t he just precious? Lucretia is at home, trying to replace the things our sweet bundle of joy has destroyed. Ah, _youth_!”

“Last time we talked she was damning your whole existence.” Harry took a sip of his tea and grinned slyly over the rim of the cup. It was no secret that Abraxas’ relationship was more alike to a telenovela than anything normal.

The telepath raised one fine eyebrow and stared blankly at Harry. “Indeed? And here I _wondered_ just when you and Tom will _finally_ start the actual dating? Or are you officially married already? We can’t quite tell and the bet _does_ need a winner.” The man’s smile was of biting amusement and sharp challenge.

“You suck, ginger man.” Lucius’ small voice announced, breaking the silent staring contest between Abraxas and Harry. The child then pursed his lips and squinted up at the _Order_ member. “And your glasses are stupid.” Barty was snickering behind his own hand of cards, not even bothering to be quiet about it. Ron gaped stupidly at the kid.

“You are raising a monster.” Harry commented as Ron stood straight and accused Barty and Lucius of ganging up on him.

Ron toppled his chair over as Lucius shook his hands and splashed acid on the table. “Bloody _fuck_ , you are all _mental_! What the _hell_ am I even here for?” Frustration was obvious in the way he spoke, in the trembles of his clenched fists. There were silent commands keeping Ron in place and forbidding him from his mutant power. Helpless and mocked. A trapped animal.

“You are here, young Weasley, because the _Order_ finally managed to anger me greatly.” Tom drawled, effectively cutting off any and all conversations. The man’s eyes were hard and cold as ice, face void of _everything_ and hands hidden in the pockets of his pants. “And you were the _weakest link_. A perfect _bait_.”

…

It was almost like a showdown. Sides were picked and war once more rumbled along the edges of the daybreak. Tom’s face was shadowed, eyes gleaming almost red in the light of the setting sun, teeth bared in a pleasant smile that sent shivers down the spines of the _Order_ members. Dumbledore, on the other hand, looked like he had been made out of stone, light blue eyes colder than tundra in winter as he looked at the _Knights_.

Harry could see Hermione twitch by Arthur’s side, her face pale and covered in sweat. Panic bloomed as a pink flush down her neck, her hands shook where they had grabbed onto the knitted sweater covering her chest. Abraxas winked at her and cocked his head as a sly smile slowly formed on his lips. No more cheating for the _Order_.

“You don’t want to do this, Tom.” Dumbledore said as the final rays of sunlight flowed over them. Night will soon be upon the city. “Do you want _another_ war, like it was with Gellert? Have you learned _nothing_?”

Tom smoothed his fingers down the front of his vest, his gaze as penetrating as that of a basilisk waiting to strike. “Should have thought about that _before_ you harassed and attacked what is _mine_. Those who walk under my lead you would leave _alone_ , that was your promise, old man.” The man licked his lips, blinked slowly.

Dumbledore breathed in slow, “Harry was a member of _Knights of Walpurgis_ only for the duration of---”

“I said _under my lead_ , not whoever is part of the _Knights_. Harry may not be a member, but he is _mine_. I _found_ him; I _helped_ him – _not you_.” Tom interrupted smoothly, his hand reaching down to entwine fingers with Harry’s. Power rumbled with the intensity of an ocean storm just below the man’s skin, burning like fire. “ _And_ he has refused you enough times to _back off_.”

Minerva’s gaze stayed frozen on their hands; Remus dug his claws in Sirius’ shoulder before the electricity frozen in human body could move. Bellatrix sneaked in-between the shadows, her touch alone sizzling with explosions bound to happen.

Stalemate. Declaration of war.

Tom brought Harry’s hand up to his lips and kissed the scarred knuckles gently, even if his eyes stayed frozen upon his enemy. “It has been brewing for war since the day you announced me _not good enough_ for your school.”

…

Harry wove through the battlefield with the agility of a cat. There was an explosion behind him and Ron’s screams vibrated right along the edges of his senses. Tom’s _will_ still held an iron grip on the mutant’s laser eyes, kept the young man from moving at all.

Barty was holding onto his bleeding side, trembling with pain and exhaustion the illusions asked from him. Rabastan’s flames turned the air scorching hot and ashes clogged the throats of those that stood too close, came too close.

Minerva ran in front of Harry, her graying hair a mess atop her head and chin held high. “I will not go easy on you, Harry.” She cracked her fingers, shook off the stiffness from her limbs before moving forward with a grace rarely seen.

The shapeshifter grinned – he had not survived on his own for so long just because of his ability alone. When Minerva’s fingers wrapped around his arm Harry moved into a crouch and placed his other palm on her stomach. Strength, inertia and movement soon forced the woman down on the ground, with the breath forced out of her lungs.

( _the knife was cool along Harry’s thigh. not yet, not yet_ )

“Sorry, but neither will I.” Harry laughed low. He moved once again, aware that his power will not work for a few precious minutes yet. The knife now fit snugly in the curve of his palm, the blade poised for an attack.

Remus snarled at Bellatrix, Hermione screamed in hysterics at Abraxas about the sanctity of mind and free will ( _hypocrite_ ). Sirius was a lightshow on Harry’s right, equal and even more than that against Fenrir’s howls.

There were bloody handprints on Dumbledore’s face, the light that covered the old man was almost blinding. Tom’s hands were dripping red and his eyes wide. Someone screamed. Harry’s knife was buried in Arthur’s side the second the man had wrapped his invisible arm around the younger’s neck and started to _choke_. Warm liquid smeared everything in its way. Harry pulled the knife out and kicked his opponent away.

The world stilled and then the two _kings_ moved. Harry’s knife was once again buried in soft flesh, this time to slice open the back of Dumbledore’s knee.

…

Harry slumped against Tom’s side. Half of his face covered in dirt and dried blood, legs numb and his shoulders trembled with the last dregs of adrenalin. Tom had his eyes closed and was breathing deliberately slow through his nose. Patches of the man’s skin were bright red still, from where Dumbledore’s light had gazed against it.

Dumbledore, though, was slumped on the ground further way from the two. With his face pressed against the ground, on leg bent and still sluggishly bleeding where Harry had cut it open. Sparkles illuminated the air around the old man, where his power still struggled to balance itself out.

“What… what ha-happens now?” Hermione was a quiet voice in the aftermath of the battle. She was still shaking, her head now free of Abraxas’ influence upon her. Her breath hitched as she blinked rapidly, one hand clutching at her hair and _pulling_. Another overload, it seemed.

Barty giggled from where he laid on Rabastan’s back. “Now we sleep for _weeks_ again. Hahaha, I think I’m high. How _funny_. _High_!” He wiggled his fingers against Rabastan’s cheek, tried in vain to smother the next batch of laugher against the other man’s shoulder.

Rabastan shook his head, his own knees weak from using his powers too much. “Why do _I_ always get Barty duty? This happens every goddamn time we have a fight.” Still, he hitched the younger man further up his back and turned to make his way back to the car. “Boss, I’m going ahead. Barty needs hospital. Bella, come with, that cut looks fucking _nasty_.”

Tom hummed, the sound a vibration against Harry’s cheek. “Yes, yes. Anyone who can walk better get out of here.” The man sighed in exhaustion then, opened his eyes and looked at the still form of Dumbledore. “ _Fuck you_ , old man.”

“Stop goading the losers. It’s dishonorable.” Harry tightened his hold on Tom’s fingers, too aware of every pain and hurt of his body. His hair still kept changing against his own will.

“ _Fine_ , darling.” Tom managed to bend down and place a light kiss on the shapeshifter’s forehead. “Whatever you say.”

…

It took weeks to heal, to break members out of holding facilities once more ( _Harry sneaked in with his masks, Abraxas broke into the minds of humans, Tom willed everything to go his way_ ). The rift between the _Knights_ and the _Order_ stayed, now meant to be there forever.

Dumbledore will never walk again; Remus had sent that message to Harry’s phone a few days later. It was not the last message exchanged, however.

“Darling, you’re awfully quiet this evening.” Tom’s palms slid down Harry’s back, pressing where the muscles were tight and taught from stress. “Is something on your mind again? Do I need to go and find someone for a poker game with young Lucius?”

Harry snorted. He turned his head around slightly, looked at Tom from over his shoulder. “Is that a new torture method? Losing in poker to a small child that tries to burn your _skin off_ if he happens to lose? Bit harsh, no?” But a smile still settled on his lips, shoulders relaxed ever so slightly.

“That fool Weasley proved that it _is_ quite a wonderful way to drive someone mad. Besides, Lucretia is all for sending her _spawn_ onto some poor, unknowing soul once in a while.” The leader of the _Knights_ dug his thumbs into the soft flesh of Harry’s hips and watched the other man sigh in content. “Now, no more _avoidance_. Speak to me, my Aphrodite.”

“I hate that nickname.” Harry hissed out between pleased grunts.

They sat in the quiet of Harry’s small apartment like that for a while. The cat was sleeping on top of the old television, a talk show about the life of celebrities served for background noise. The neighbor lady yelled at her relatives in the apartment next to this one.

Tom’s hands stilled and settled on Harry’s hips. Harry traced the pale scars decorating Tom’s long, elegant fingers with his eyes. “Are we dating… or something?” Inelegant and straight to the point, blunt when perhaps he should not be. But Harry was a man of awkward edges and buried landmines in the most unexpected of places.

“Hmm.” Tom leaned his whole weight on Harry’s, his chest to the other’s back. “ _I_ suppose we are not, _officially_. _However_ , our actions prove that we have been for a while now.” He tilted his head just so, nose buried in the chaos that was Harry’s hair. It smelled like peaches.

Harry was quiet and still under the other man. “ _Oh_.” Teeth worried his bottom lip for a moment, green eyes moving to try and catch even the slightest shift of Tom, however impossible it might be with how they sat. “Well… I guess we’re official now?”

“So we are.” Tom’s voice was warm, gentle as he traced the soft curve of Harry’s cheeks, the sharp tilt of the man’s nose. “I did say you were mine. I am _quite_ possessive about these things, mind.” He moved, bent down and finally, _finally_ claimed that kiss from Harry’s lips.

There were no fireworks, no sudden revelations to ring in the air. But it was perfect and warm, Harry’s hand tangled in Tom’s hair and pleasant in the way their sighs settled against each other’s tongue.

…

“ _God damn it_ , Riddle! Couldn’t you two wait for another fucking _week_! I had good money riding on this.” Abraxas threw pistachios one by one at Tom’s head. There was a petulant frown on the man’s face, although his eyes shined with happiness for the both of them.

Rabastan laughed, head thrown back and arms crossed over his chest. “ _Suck it_ , blond wonder! You all owe me now.” He tilted his chair back on its two back legs, raised one arm to salute the newly formed ( _old_ ) couple. “Congrats, boss. You got yourself a cute one.”

Harry’s cheeks colored quite quickly. With a huff he shifted into the somewhat familiar skin of a ginger-haired woman with dark brown skin, chest heaving in exasperation. “You’re all _stupid_.” He announced before marching over to where Fenrir was taking a nap.

Abraxas threw his hair over one shoulder, head held high in an unwillingness to admit his defeat. “And you two took forever with this. All that flirting and sexual tension we had to be in the middle of. As _amusing_ as it might have been, it does get _tiring_ after a while.” He handed over a few bills to Rabastan with a flourish.

“Have you all nothing _better_ to do?” Tom asked for the sake of asking. An old fondness tingled along his nerves for this rag-tag bunch of people he had come to see as friends and companions.

**Author's Note:**

> People really liked the first one. I decided that I am not yet done with this au, so I wrote part 2.  
> (maybe there will be part 3?)
> 
> List of mutant powers, new characters added:  
> Harry - shapeshifting  
> T-Ridds - control of human will via touch  
> Dumbles - light  
> Gellert - creation and control of viruses/diseases  
> Sirius - electricity  
> Remus - Sabertooth p much  
> Abraxas - telepathy n shit  
> Bella - explosions  
> McGonagall - power cancellation  
> Barty - Illusions  
> Arthur Weasley - invisibility  
> Hermione - glimpses of future  
> Ron - laser eyes  
> Lucy (11) - makes acid  
> Rabastan - fire  
> Fenrir - sound manipulation/sonic scream


End file.
